Joker Phillips, seen here during Saturday's loss to Vanderbilt, was fired after his team's 1-9 start. / Mark Zerof, US Presswire

by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the wake of a humiliating 40-0 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday, his football team's eighth consecutive defeat and ninth in 10 games this season, a demoralized Joker Phillips all but fell on his sword when he said it would be best for everyone involved if his boss at the University of Kentucky would say something about the coach's future.

One day later, athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who has declined interview requests all fall as losses piled up and fans avoided Commonwealth Stadium, finally did speak up. Sort of. By way of a 924-word open letter to fans that was posted on the Wildcats' official website about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, Barnhart fired Phillips.

"After much conversation, evaluation and prayer, I have determined that it is in the best interest of our athletics program to make a change in our football coaching staff at the conclusion of the season," Barnhart wrote. "I do so with a heavy heart for a man who has served his alma mater for almost 22 years as a player and a coach."

At his press conference on Jan. 6, 2010, when he was named coach, Phillips cried.

"As a young boy growing up in Franklin, Ky., my dream was to be a Wildcat," he said then.

There was no press conference Sunday for him to say goodbye after a 12-23 record in nearly three seasons.

Neither Barnhart nor any UK football players were made available for comment and multiple calls and text messages to Phillips and his staff were not returned. Barnhart's letter said the search for a new coach "will begin immediately and will be managed internally."

An athletic department spokesman said it is "still being determined" whether Phillips will coach UK's final two games, but all nine assistant coaches "will stay on" to close out the season. The Wildcats have an open date this week, meaning their next game isn't until Nov. 17 at home against Samford. UK did issue a statement from Phillips Sunday evening.

"We, as coaches, are measured on results. We didn't get the results we had worked and hoped for, therefore a change is needed," Phillips said in the statement. "I'm very appreciative of Mitch Barnhart and Rich Brooks for providing the opportunity to have been the head coach here. Mitch is the best athletic director I've ever been associated with. He's fair and honest and 'all in,' in terms of student athletes' well-being. Rich is the best mentor a young coach could ever have."

Brooks, UK's previous head coach, hired Phillips as a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator in 2003 and promoted him to offensive coordinator in 2005. Phillips, who played for the Wildcats in the early 1980s and served his first assistant coaching stint in Lexington from 1988-96, was later named head coach in waiting and eventually succeeded Brooks upon his retirement in 2010.

Reached by phone Sunday, Brooks said of Phillips' firing: "I'm surprised and saddened by it. I just expected a decision wouldn't be made until the end of the season."

There were some highlights for UK under Phillips. The Cats upset 10th-ranked South Carolina and went to a bowl game in his first season. They shocked Tennessee with a wide receiver playing quarterback in last year's finale, ending a 26-year losing streak to the Volunteers. But there were far too many lows.

Kentucky has lost 18 of its past 24 games and the past 13 Southeastern Conference losses have come by an average margin of nearly four touchdowns. There have been no glimmers of hope this season, which opened with an 18-point loss to rival Louisville, then a stunning home loss to Western Kentucky. A rash of injuries and influx of youth compounded the Cats' problems and a string of blowout SEC losses followed.

It all came to an ugly head Saturday when Vanderbilt walloped Kentucky in front of a crowd that didn't even fill a third of the seats in Commonwealth Stadium. Season-ticket sales dipped by nearly 10,000 this season and the average announced crowd in six home games is almost 20,000 shy of capacity - with actual fan turnouts even smaller than that.

Associate athletic director DeWayne Peevy, in a text message, said Phillips' "remaining contract will be honored," but did not immediately know if that meant he'd be paid all of the $3.4 million guaranteed in the final two years of the agreement or a $2.55 million buyout outlined in the document if Phillips were terminated without cause.

The bigger question: Who's next for Kentucky? Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes, a former UK graduate assistant under Hal Mumme, will be a popular name among fans, as will former Louisville and Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, although the indiscretions that led to his dismissal in Fayetteville are a concern.

There will be buzz about Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, a former University of Tennessee coach with ties to several members of the Cats' current staff and now a reputation for reviving a perennial doormat. Hotshot coordinators could also be considered. Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart is primed for a chance to be the boss and both Texas Tech's Neal Brown and Florida's Brent Pease, a pair of offensive coordinators, have UK ties; Brown as a player and Pease as an assistant.

"I understand the challenge and significance of finding a new leader for our football program," Barnhart said in his letter. "Kentucky football needs to be and will be a championship contender in the SEC."